Nadal wins Rogers Cup

toronto,  august 13

Rafael Nadal ended the red-hot run of Greek upstart Stefanos Tsitsipas with a ruthless 6-2 7-6(4) win that gave the Spanish top seed his fourth Rogers Cup. 

Tsitsipas, who was contesting the Masters 1000 final on his 20th birthday after four consecutive wins over top-10 players in Toronto, threw all he had at Nadal but was ultimately unable to beat the world No. 1.

Tsitsipas did well to serve out at love in the first game but Nadal took over as he broke back in each of his next two chances before sealing the opening set in 34 minutes when the world number 27 sent a routine forehand into the net.

The second set looked to be going much the same way until Tsitsipas mounted a late charge that briefly shifted momentum in his favour. Nadal, serving for the match at 5-4 and having dropped only three points on serve the entire match up to that point, suddenly looked tight as Tsitsipas broke him and then held serve to pull within one game of levelling the contest. Nadal forced a tiebreak where he rallied back from a mini break and clinched the win with a crosscourt forehand winner for a record-extending 33rd Masters title. Nadal on Monday withdrew from the the Cincinnati Open.

Halep beats Stephens 

Montreal: World No. 1 Simona Halep turned back American Sloane Stephens 7-6(6) 3-6 6-4 to win the Rogers Cup women’s title in a rematch of their French Open finale in Montreal on Sunday. — Agencies

Nadal’s titles in 2018

• Monte Carlo Masters: Bt K Nishikori 6-3 6-2
• Barcelona Open: Bt S Tsitsipas 6-2 6-1
• Rome Masters: Bt A Zverev 6–1 1–6 6–3
• French Open: Bt D Thiem 6–4 6–3 6–2
• Rogers Cup: Bt S Tsitsipas 6–2 7–6(7–4)